Breakups are hard. Setting fires to cars, then calling the police and saying some other guy did it, is one way to deal.

A young man living in an Urumqi apartment complex allegedly set fire to five cars over nine days after getting dumped by his girlfriend early one morning, iyaxin.com reported yesterday.

Police in Urumqi’s Xinshi District arrested a 21-year old suspect surnamed Zhang on June 8 after surveillance cameras at the Jinsejiayuan apartment complex on Liyushan South Road placed Zhang at the scene.

Zhang, a college intern living in the complex, told police his girlfriend left him on May 26 because he “doesn’t have honest work.” He then“saw some cars in the complex and, thinking about how his girlfriend looked down on him, suddenly wanted to burn them.”

Zhang explained he ignited the cars by lighting a rag or washcloth in front of the front tire, under a gap in the chassis, and walking away.

After identifying Zhang on video, police pieced together that it was Zhang who had previously reported the fires, had shown up at the scene after police arrived, and even helped neighbors who had been injured by the fire. One neighbor called him a “good Samaritan.”

On one occasion, Zhang explained he had seen “a man in his 30s, about 1.75 meters tall wearing camouflage” in the complex.

James writes about music for That’s Beijing. (Picture for illustrative purposes only.)

Warning: this story contains stupid parents, neighbors, landlords and police, and is sure to anger you.

An 8-year old girl known to play with fire burned to death while shut in her home outside Hangzhou, Zhejiang province yesterday after her parents locked her in alone and left for work.

The charred remains of the child were found after two young men nearby were alerted by a neighbor who smelled the smoke and cried for help. The pair kicked down the locked door and put out the fire before firefighters arrived, according to Zhejiang News.

It took nearly 30 washbasins of water and 20 minutes to put out the fire, one of the men surnamed Xu, an employee at a nearby plastics factory, told the paper.

Firefighters arrived soon after and discovered the body on the family’s burnt bed. Though authorities are still investigating the cause of the blaze, neighbors claim they had seen the child playing with fire days before.

The father, a 48-year old textile factory employee surnamed Pan from Henan province, routinely locked the child in their apartment before leaving for work every morning with the child’s mother, according to tenants.

“I warned them that’s not a good idea, they’d be better off taking her to the factory with them,” said one neighbor surnamed Wang with perfect hindsight, adding she had repeatedly scolded the child for playing with matches.

“A few days ago, some neighbors saw the girl lighting newspapers and throwing them from the window,” said another tenant. “Everyone was scared, because all these rooms are separated by wooden walls. If there was a fire, it would probably burn the whole house up.”

The neighbors allegedly complained to the landlord about the child’s behavior, who warned the parents to remove lighters before leaving the child alone, according to the report.

The article does not mention whether police arrested the parents for child negligence, or any charges for that matter.

James writes about music for That’s Beijing.

While CCTV insists on appealing to the largest demographic and sucking, we’d like to remind everyone that Hunan Satellite TV has decided to take a chance on mainland rock’s alpha and omega, Cui Jian, to perform on its New Year’s “Mango” Gala on February 4 (7:30 pm).

Slated to join Cui is Beyond guitarist Huang Guanzhong (Paul Wong), but according to reports, we are still unsure he will perform.

Probably sensing how farty they are, CCTV has recruited the once-underground and edgy Wang Feng to give it some rock cred. Wang has earned this shot with years of work, and is quite rightly pumped:

“I remember a long time ago on one New Year’s Eve, my parents were watching the Spring Gala and asked me, ‘When are you gonna be singing on there?’ and I said ‘Come on, don’t push!’ After many years my friends are asking me, ‘Wo will you be on this year？’ and I said, “Yes!”

James writes about music for That’s Beijing.

Hunan will be spared a visit from Uncle PSY this Spring Festival, as it looks like he’ll be galloping on Phoenix Dragon TV’s Spring Festival crap-a-thon in Shanghai, effectively making the Changsha government look like a bunch of liars.

According to gossip queens Xinhua, PSY arrives in Shanghai tonight, where he’s scheduled for a performance at Cuvve on The Bund February 1 and will then spend the next five days psyching himself up in the mirror for the big game.

Also, he’s very down-to-earth for not wanting any fuss or fanfare:

PSY is keeping things very low key and simple, Phoenix Dragon TV publicist Feng Liang told reporters… “We offered to provide PSY with a very detailed itinerary for security and accommodations, but after he saw the words ‘hotel suite’ ‘eight-man security team’ and ‘all-inclusive,’ he completely refused them.”

PTV’s gushing publicist later spewed, “His fee was less than even when we had Jacky Cheung and Andy Lau for our New Year’s concert.”

PSY told the station how he rolls:

“There’s no need for a VIP corridor at the airport, the simpler the better. No need for security, Shanghai’s very safe. No need for banquets, I just want to eat Shanghai traditional snack foods, and I’ll pay my own bills. No need for a suite, I just want to stay in a room on a high floor, where I can really see what Shanghai is like.”

One person I’m pretty certain won’t be turning down hotel suites is Celine Dion (see notoriously demanding rider here), who will not only grace the CCTV Spring Festival Gala with the rarely-performed “My Heart Will Go On,” but also pair up with PLA songbird Song Zuying, the now “legendary mistress of Jiang Zemin,” for a duet on “Jasmine Flower.” (Here is Song singing something annoying in 2009.)

Titanic will always be afloat in the hearts of the Chinese people, but for someone who had to cancel tour dates last year due to inflamed vocal chords, I wonder how this diva will handle a lungful of Beijing.

James writes about music for That’s Beijing.

Here’s a bit of music news followed by something you can do for Chinese rock.

The media-starved Chinese indie scene got a huge push on Sina Weibo this week when blogger Han Han found time between his car racing and corporate whoring to plug Shijiazhuang’s well-respected indie quartet Omnipotent Youth Society.

This is a big Weibo ripple considering Han has over 11 million followers and rarely posts (only 57). Han, who unfortunately once fancied himself a crooner, recommended the songs Kill that Man from Shijiazhuang and Qinhuangdao from OYS’s self-titled LP (2010). For the latter he wrote the lyrics in calligraphy and posted:

I know I’m hearing about these late. It makes me think back about when everyone was busy playing Happy Farm, I was blogging, and when everyone was blogging I was stealing their vegetables. People say I’m different, but really I’m just behind and the last to know stuff. Hey, better late than never.

Much like Han’s elliptical writings (or his ghostwriters’, depending on who you ask), both the songs tell of the dangers of idealism, lyrics which Han dedicates to “all those young people still crossing those waters” (also lyrics from Qinhuangdao).

Curious to know what a 11-million-strong Weibo post can do for a band, we contacted OYS, who was surprisingly not willing to talk about it. We’ll keep you updated.

Although the English-language music blogs have already done their part, one last push for pianist/composer Liang Heping’s benefit concert at Beijing’s Yugong Yishan tomorrow is in order (8 pm, 150 yuan at the door), not only because of the winning lineup (includes He Yong, Second Hand Rose, Tomahawk, Liquid Oxygen Can, Thin Man, Ma Tiao), but it’s also a chance to help one of Chinese rock’s progenitors cover medical costs.

Late last June, Liang was injured off-roading in Inner Mongolia, resulting in partial paralysis of his arms, leaving him not only unable to play as before but also stuck with huge medical bills.

As China rock scribe Jon Campbell pointed out, Liang was an instrumental player in rocker Cui Jian’s early years, and also produced He Yong’s “Garbage Dump,” which is essential 90s Chinese rock listening:

That’s Liang on the keys (5:40, don’t blink) during a 1994 Hong Kong performance of “Bell and Drum Tower.”

He Yong is paying it forward now by organizing the concert, which will also include an auction of items donated by Chinese rock royalty, including Xie Tian Xiao (who finally has a new album coming out March 30). All proceeds go straight to Liang.

James Tiscione writes about music for That’s Beijing.